


Starbound

by C_C_M



Series: Star Empress [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alcohol, Aliens, Cats, First Novel, Fluff and Angst, Futuristic, Gen, Human Protagonist, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, Non-Human Humanoid Society, Rated For Violence, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Space Opera, Space Pirates, Terrorists, War, War Torn, anthro aliens, cat-folk, civilized, mature themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:34:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25853698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_C_M/pseuds/C_C_M
Summary: The year is 2030, it’s been peaceful in Delemorus for 5 years since the war ended between the Alcalrain Federation, a group that governs the universe and protects it from the threat of the Howlers, a group of outlaws that has been at war with the federation for thousand years.With reports of new Howler activity, the federation believes the Howlers are looking for the ancient artifact, Arvok; an object that is fabled to be the key to finding and unlocking a powerful and ancient weapon called the Light Of Ordin. One such weapon that could have the power to destroy Delemorus.In repose to these reports, a human raised by the federation’s finest is sent out on her first important mission that might lead her to more questions than answers.(First Book In The Star Empress Series)*Beta Version*
Series: Star Empress [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876027





	1. Chapter One: The Hunter

I never thought I would be really ready to go on a mission, even though it wasn't even my first.

It was still pretty early when I had gotten my report for my mission from headquarters. Known by most as the Alcalrain Federation.  
Despite being raised up in the federation, I never really liked working with large groups. I just didn't like the large crowds of people blocking my field of vision.

So as soon as I had finished my basic training, I was assigned to the bounty hunters division of the federation.  
I've only known a few bounty hunters during the short amount of time training become one.  
They weren't really very chatty. They were mostly as quiet as predators searching for their prey.

They did somewhat creeped me out back then. But not as much anymore. Not since I had officially became one of them.

I looked around the ship one last time. It was probably the only time I would be able to use this kind of ship.  
Only the most elite members of the federation would ride in a ship like this. I didn't even really know why headquarters even allowed me aboard such an important ship.

I often wondered why the federation would send me to Alter in one of their Avox ships. Normally these types of ships were used for carrying mechs called Altonaras that captains and lucky soldiers would be able to wear to battle.

I had only seen one once in my life. Just from the size of it, I knew I would never want to be put up against these monsters on the battlefield.  
While there weren't fast by any means, you would be mistaken to underestimate their destructive powers.

I looked at the holographic screen that hovered a few centimeters above my arm. On it was the details of my mission.  
I was being sent to find survivors of a small settlement that had sent out an SOS signal before their power was cut out. From what my report on the matter said, no one knew what exactly was causing the trouble.

"Hey, Star Empress! Are you ready for departure?" a voice spoke over the loudspeaker, nearly startling me.  
I sighed in relief, knowing that it was only Rex. I knew his voice anywhere. He was always loud when he needed to be, but he could be gentle when he didn't have to be so serious.

I took off the radio speaker piece from the interior of the ship and spoke into it. "You know you can call me by my real name, we've known each other for how long?" I joked, making him snicker.

"Okay, Elamile, I'm sorry. But in all seriousness, are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Affirmative, you can open the bay door," I answered.

The door to the ship opened in front of me. Light poured into the cargo bay and it was almost bright enough to blind someone. But it didn't take me too long to adjust to the harsh light. It helped that I had been on a few missions before this one. Otherwise, a young bounty hunter like me wouldn’t be sent on such an important mission.

I walked out of the bay door and onto a ramp that led me down to a meadow of otherworldly flowers. Surrounding the edge of it was a lush jungle of vines and trees.  
Much of the vegetation was a different colored shade of aqua. I found it quite strange since on Alcanra, the skies were a pale blue.

I didn't have to worry too much about the air quality, it was safe enough to breathe. But I decided to keep my helmet on, just in case of the Pyasidic virus.  
The last time someone spread that virus was 20 years ago. It had almost wiped out several different races.

I wouldn't want Delemorus to fall because of my stupid decision of leaving my helmet off.  
I checked the area for any movement, but my scanners weren't picking up wildlife nearby.

When I was sure that the coast was cleared, I turned on my communication device and a hologram of Rex was shown before me.  
Rex was young for a Krona, an alien who had the appearance of an anthropomorphic cat. We had known each other since we had been kids.  
He always liked acting cool, but I knew he was quite nerdy and loved gaming when he was off duty.

"Thanks for the ride, Rex," I said, "You should get going, I'll be sure to let you know when I find anything".

Rex looked at me a bit worried. "Are you sure you'll be fine on your own? I don't mind coming with you as backup".

I shook my head. "It's fine, I've been on a lot of missions before. You don't have to worry about my safety".

"Roger that, be safe out there," he replied. I nodded in agreement. "Right, I'll see you later," I said as the transition ended.

I sighed. He was always looking out for me, such a dork.

The door to the ship closed behind me. I didn't pay much attention as I continued onward towards the jungle as the ship rose into the sky behind me.  
I was now focused on the mission more than ever now, doing what I had to do and venture forth into unknown territory.

Cutting through the thick vines that were tangled from one tree to the next, I made my way carefully through the jungle.  
I was mostly watching my footing so I wouldn't trip on any tree roots. The jungle wasn't as noisy as I thought it would be. It was quiet, way too quiet. It was very unsettling and made me worried about what was to come.

The jungle opened up to a clearing that showed me where exactly the town was.  
The town was surrounded by a well-fortified wall that looked like it was built to withstand the force of an enemy mech. Special cannons were even in place for dealing with such an event to swiftly destroy them.

It didn't take me too long to notice that there was a hill that could help lead me down towards the settlement.  
It might as well be the safest route down.

Once I got to the bottom of the hill, I walked towards the settlement.  
As I got closer to the wall I could see that the walls had only been slightly damaged. But what caught my eye was the steel doors that had blood-stained scratches that looked like they were from a huge beast.

This couldn't be an invasion, they would have made a better plan. No, this must be my greatest fear becoming reality.  
I quickly ran inside to see that I was right. On the streets were the citizens that lay there broken and mangled. Their blood stained the streets scarlet red.  
Part of me was sickened by all of this death that was around me, but the other half wanted me to press on and kill that beast that had presumedly killed the people of the settlement.

I knew I had to do it, for the sake of the people that I had failed to protect in time. I made my way past the broken bodies that lay on the streets. Walking down the street, I didn't know what to expect. Faint grunting noises echoed along the walls of the buildings.

I jerked around with my gun ready to shoot. But the beast was not there. Dam it! It should be nearby! I need to keep my guard up. You can do this.

Breaking my train of thought came a chilling yell of terror, it sounded as if a cowardly man was in trouble.  
I quickly took action and ran towards the sound with my gun ready to kill the beast. Idiot! He's going to get himself killed!

As the yelling got louder, my heart pounded in my chest. The yelling was cut off when I turned the corner and saw why. An eight-foot-tall, monstrous beast had tackled him to the ground and dug its sharp claws into him. I recognized the beast immediately, it was a Vorkalth.

It was almost exactly like it was pictured in the textbooks that I had read so many years ago. Their fur was pure black with only a white stripe on its face where its eye was. Its body was covered in short fur that stuck out like thorns.

But there was one detail that the book forgot to mention was the fact that it had a large mouth on its chest that it was using to feed itself the flesh of it's latest victim.  
Horrified, I backed away slowly, only to knock into some cans behind me. The beast's bloodshot eyes caught sight of me. It's pupils shrunk when it saw me. Much like the Krona race.

It hissed at me and stood tall against me. The beast's height was more then I thought it would be. This was unexpected.  
The creature bared its sharp fangs and the Vorkalth lunged at me with its claws ready to attack.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I said and quickly reacted in time by shooting it in the eye.

The black-furred creature cried out in pain with an ear-pursing screech, only to charge at me again with a gaping hole where the eye had once been. The bullet had not slowed it down.

"Shit!" I shouted again, this time louder than before.

If my gun wasn't going to work, I knew I had only one other choice of a weapon.  
I quickly pulled out my Radica Blade, ready for the next attack from the beast. I hoped the gods would hear my prayers and not let me be get killed by a Vorkalth.

It charged at me, still pissed off. I was ready for it and swiftly dodged out of the way and stabbed the beast in the leg with the blade. It howled in pain and leaped back.

The fresh wound on the beast bleed a black liquid, it oozed out from the gash on its leg. Quickly I fell back while the beast licked his wound.  
I knew I had to find a higher advantage point to take down the beast. But where?

It wasn't long before I reached the wall, the beast had found me again and was coming in fast.  
I barely dodged in time as the beast impacted the wall. The beast lay there dazed, I took this as a chance to escape and quickly ran up the staircase that lead to the top of the town's fortified walls.

When I got to the top, I tried activating my hologram device to call Rex. But the dam thing couldn't get a signal for some odd reason.  
Not now...this thing can't be dying on me.

I turned to the beast growling at me, it had finally cornered me at the edge of the wall. The beast's eye that I had shot not long ago had returned back to what it looked like before, but the wound on its leg had not healed. The beast was still in pain.

My blade! It's the only thing that can kill this beast. But how am I going to get close enough without getting my head chopped off?  
Before I could think for long, the beast charged at me again. I tried to counter its attack, but it quickly grabbed me. I struggled with its weight until I was thrown off balance and both of us fell together off of the wall.

I punched the beast in the face as we fell and tried to stab it with the other hand. It kept dodging my blade, but it wasn't really prepared to deal with my fists as well.  
When both of us made an impact onto the ground, the beast took the most damage from the fall.

I could hear it yelp in pain as each fall it took to the ground probably broke more than one bone in its body.  
I, on the other hand, could feel my arm had either broken or came out from the socket from my shoulder. The pain hurt like mad and I knew that this was not even the end of it.

Both I and the beast continued to roll down the hill once we landed on the ground. Neither of us could attack.  
I couldn't stop cursing, not only because of the pain but also because I had no idea where I was tumbling off to.

When I finally stopped rolling, I got to my feet to see I was just inches away from the cliff that only lead to a bottomless abyss below.  
My vision swayed side to side, I still felt dazed from rolling down the rugged hill. I quickly shook my head to clear my mind.

Just as I did, I felt a sharp pain in my right arm and quickly saw that the beast had chomped its teeth on my arm. Luckily, it wasn't it's massive jaws from its chest.  
"Get off!" I shouted and stabbed the Vorkalth again with my blade with my one arm that I was still able to use.

It yelped in pain and released my arm. Now making my left arm both broken and mangled. Great, what a terrible end to an almost perfect day.  
The Vorkalth charged at me yet again, unfinished it's mindless desire to taste my blood again. I promptly kicked the beast back by kicking it in the face to give me more time to activate my sword again.

Stupid tech. Why do these blades even have to be technology in the first place? The beast snarled at me again, its mouth was drooling to get a bite out of me.

Finally, I turned the blade on just in time as the beast lunged towards me for one final time. With a powerful thrust, I plunged my sword into the beast's chest. Narrowly missing its extra pair of jaws. 

The creature screeched in agony and desperately tried to pull back from the sword stuck inside its chest.  
But even when I finally slid the sword out, the fatal wound was already eating away from what life was left in the Vorkalth. The wound that I had landed wouldn't stop bleeding.

The black liquid from its body flowed out quicker then it had before. The Vorkalth screamed out it's dying cry before it swayed back and forth and lost it's footing, falling into the deep abyss below.

Exhausted I walked away from the edge and sat down. Thank the stars I'm still alive. That's the first and last time I ever want to deal with those blasted things.  
Before long a small dropship appeared, to my surprise I saw one captain that I wasn't expecting. One that had saved me many times, Captain Merlo.

Much like Rex, he was also a Krona. He was a senior captain, one known by almost all the members of the federation. His fur was slightly shabby, had an eyepatch over his damaged left eye, and often would smell of liquor, even if you were only a few feet away.  
Despite the fact he was a bit of an alcoholic, he was my guardian. Someone who was always keeping an eye out for me, someone I could learn from since I never did get to know much about my real parents.

“Hey Merlo,” I said, slowly approaching him.

"It’s good to see you alive. Rex told me he had a bad feeling that you had gotten into some trouble, He sent me a transmission and asked for my assistance since me and my crew was in the area," he said. When I approached closer to him, he narrowed his eyes at my mangled arm.

"Hmm...seams like you were a bit reckless again. Make sure you have the med bots take a look at your arm," he said and helped me get onto the ship, "But I am glad to see you again, Elamile".

I groaned in annoyance and took off my helmet once he closed the door to the dropship. "It's Star Empress. I told you not to call me Elamile unless we are not on missions.

Merlo only chuckled in amusement. "Alright sweetheart, I get you," he said, ignoring my remark and ruffing my hair until I shoved him away.  
As soon as I sat down, I was swarmed by medical robots. Despite each one of being no bigger than my nail, a swarm of them made it look like my arm was being attacked by a large smoke cloud.

While the medical bots did their job, Merlo had returned to me with a glass of water. "How did your mission go?" he asked.  
I took the glass of water from him and drank from it. After putting it back down, I knew I couldn't avoid telling Merlo the truth of what had really happened.  
But I knew I still felt awful that I wasn't able to save anyone in the village.

"It was horrible," I admitted, "Everyone in that town was dead, there were no survivors".  
Merlo remained quiet for a minute and finally broke his silence. "I see...I'm sorry that it didn't go as planned," he said, "You should know by now that not all of your missions will be successful," he said and turned away towards the door that lead to the cockpit.

He stopped and then turned his head to look at me. "I know you like being called by your bounty hunter name, but I still find that Elamile is a wonderful name," he said before turning to enter the cockpit door.

When he was gone, the medical bots had finished repairing my damaged arm. I practiced by opening and closing the palm of my hand. It was good as new, maybe even an improvement in how my arm was before.

But the rest of my body still felt the pain of everything else I went through.  
Guess those robots can't think of all of my problems.

The creak of the loudspeaker got my attention. I quickly knew that Merlo was going to make an announcement over the speaker. "Alright crew, we are now arriving at the main ship".


	2. Friends and Foes

The faint smell of bacon woke me from my slumber. I was relieved to find myself in my cabin on Merlo's ship, known as the Galxalis. It was a room I remembered fondly from when I was much younger. It was time that Merlo wouldn't let out of sight and always made me travel with him. 

Getting up from the mattress, I felt my back was quite stiff. How long was I out?

I couldn't feel any pain from my arm that had nearly got bitten off the other day. I guess it was worth getting robots to fix your wounds. It was too bad that they couldn't give me a good massage to go along with their services.

A knock came at the door and suddenly opened to reveal Merlo had arrived.

He looked pretty exhausted. His fur wasn't as well kept as yesterday. It was a clear sign that he had woken up not too long ago. He held a plate of bacon and eggs with both of his hands.

"Hey sleeping beauty, I've got you some breakfast before we head out," he said before handing me the plate of bacon and eggs.

I was quick to eat it as soon as he passed me the fork and knife. I was making sure to leave nothing behind.

"Hey, I didn't mean to shallow your food like a hurricane. Were not that much of a rush. You could have choked or something," he remarked, taking the plate away from me when I was finished.

"You know I can't help it," I replied, "You're the finest chef in Delemorus after all".

"I am, ain't I? Maybe I should start a restaurant when I'm finally retired from patrolling the far reaches of space," Merlo joked, "By the way, How's that arm of yours doing? Feel sore?"

"A little, but I guess all the sleep I've been having is helping to heal it up to full strength".

Merlo sighed in relief. "I'm glad, I still need you keeping me in check after all," he said and sat up, "I'll wait outside for you while you change".

I gave him a quick nod and he exited the room. After a quick stretch, I opened up my closet to find something to wear.

It was very limited. Nothing fancy, only different coloured versions of the suits that most regular soldiers would wear.

But I had a least one outfit that was different than rest.

It was my bounty hunter suit. Unlike the spandex tight feeling that soldiers would always feel when wearing their suit, mine oddly always reminded me of the pyjamas I used to wear to bed as a kid.

The only big difference was the fact that outside of my uniform was made strong enough to repel gunfire from bullets. So far, there hasn't been anyone that has dared to attempt to kill me with such a thing.

I suited up into my uniform with ease, it helped a lot that it barely weighed like anything. When I was ready, I opened the door to my room. Outside, Merlo was patiently waiting for me.

He looked quite relieved that I was finally out of my room.

"I just received a message that we should be arriving on Alcalra in a couple of hours. The crew is waiting for us at the bridge".

"I see...so will I have to see Lorta about my failure on the mission?" I asked. Merlo looked at me and blinked.

"I'm sure he'll go easy on you, you know he's more forgiving then Altano".

How could I forget him? The bitterest of all Kronas on Alcalra? He was the king's only son and the next in line to the throne. But there was once a time that he had been a friend to me. But that had been a long time ago, times were very different.

I was quick to shook my thoughts of him away, I knew I had to focus.

We continued walking until both of us came to a complete stop to see that, Arlus blocked our path.

Arlus was the only thing on the ship that was not Krona or human. He was somewhat a feral creature that still had some intelligence. He was a breed of space wolf that came from the planet of Altraron Nine. 

I still remembered that I had adopted and raised him after he took a liking to me. I named him after Merlo's original ship that he had before the Galxalis.

It was junk compared to the Galxalis, but I thought the name would be great for Arlus. We did find him abandoned in a junkyard.

I gently patted Arlus on top of his head and he quickly awoke with a yawn. The mighty beast began to move and stretched his front paws.

Upon seeing me, he wagged his tail in delight. On all fours, Arlus was pretty huge. But not really terrifying unless he was angry. Thankfully he wasn't, just over-excited to see me.

"Alright Arlus, settle down," I said trying to calm him down. He was easily excited whenever he was near me.

Merlo was quick to give me a glance of impatience. "Can we get going? I'm needed on the bridge".

"Alright, just give me a second," I replied back, hastily. 

Once Arlus had settled down, I continued following Merlo through the hallway.

Arlus had followed me closely behind. I could feel his hot breath breathing down my back. Worse of all was his slobber dripping down onto my face. It was annoying, but I could never get too mad at him.

I've known him for most of my life and he always felt like the sibling I never had, despite being a space wolf and not capable of speech. But other than are differences, we were inseparable.

A door opened from the side of the hallway and I saw Rex come out to greet us. He looked still tired from how much he was yawning.

"Busy morning, huh?" he asked with a large yawn after he spoke.

I nodded in agreement. "It has, it hasn't been easy with Arlus giving me a shower," I joked, pointing up at the slobber that was dripping from Arlus's jaws.

Rex snorted out a laugh, getting the point of her joke. He was amused by the look of confusion that Arlus had on his face.

Merlo turned around sharply and gave us a serious stare, a glare that quickly quieted Rex to a whimper when he saw it.

"We're here, make sure to control yourself next time, Officer Rex," he said.

"Yes, sir. It won't happen again," Rex quickly apologized.

Merlo sighed and turned back to the door to enter the passcode for the bridge. I heard Arlus bark from behind me. I turned to face him and smiled.

"I love you Arlus, but you can't come on the bridge. Stay here and I'll get you later when it's time to get off the ship". Arlus looked at her as if he looked slightly confused.

"Just...stay here," I pointed down and he did as he was told. "Good boy, I'll see you later," I said, ruffling his fur and waved goodbye to Rex as he encouraged the overgrown space pup to follow him.

The bridge was not as busy as I was expecting it to be. There would be a few pilots controlling the panels that helped control the ship's speed as it moved through space, but instead, the pilots were waiting for Merlo. Their faces looked sickened with worry.

A female krona approached us. With a groan, I knew who it was, Corra Axavel. One of the few allies in the federation that I had a strong sense of dislike for her.

She, unfortunately, had to be Merlo's second in command, which made things even more complicated.

We had grown up together during our childhood. But one thing I knew, she always hated my guts.

She wasn't as tall as Merlo, but she made up for it in her quick reflexes. She looks a lot older than me. But I'm not completely a hundred percent sure. I don't really know how most Kronas keep track of their age.

"Captain, thank Starczea that you're finally here," she said, saluting to Merlo and ignoring me completely, "The pilots and I can't get the Alzalf to work properly".

"No response from the A.I, Hal?" Merlo asked her.

Corra shook her head. "He hasn't responded to any of us. But I'm sure he might listen to you. He does like you after all".

Merlo groaned in annoyance, this was probably not how he wanted to start his day. "Ugh, let me deal with it".

He walked towards the main Alzalf that looked like it was in fine order. "Hal, alpha code recognition," Merlo said aloud and the main Alzalf turned on to reveal a digital face that looked closest to a hybrid of both krona and human.

At the very least, it looked quite unsettling to stare at it for too long.

"Name is required for a code recognition," the Hal said.

"Merlo Waltz-Menrow," Merlo answered directly, sounded annoyed that the Hal didn't recognize him.

The Hal started looking though data files of all the members of the federation and finally, it's face appeared again.

"Greetings, Captain Merlo. How may I help you today?" the Hal asked.

Merlo cleaned his throat before he spoke. "Hal, enable pilot access to Sub Alzalfs". Without hesitation, Hal turned on the much smaller Alzalfs.

They were a lot different than the main Alzalf system due to them lacking a face as the main system had. Honesty might have been hard for the pilots to due to their job if they did.

"Thank you, Hal," Merlo thanked him.

"You're certainly welcomed, Captain Merlo," Hal replied.

Merlo stepped away from the main Alzalf system and turned to face Corra. "I suggest when we return to Alcalra that you learn to access it next time, I'm not always going to have time to help you with the Alzalf system".

"Yes...captain," she saluted and Merlo sat down in his seat. Before I could go over to sit next to him, Corra blocked my way.

"Just because you have special clearance to be on the bridge, it doesn't mean I'm going to act sweet to you," she growled under her breath as she pointed my chest.

Before I could react, she pushed past me against my shoulder to move towards her station. What a jerk.

**Author's Note:**

> How did you like it? It's my first time uploading one of my original stories on Archive of Our Own. This is the first novel that I tried my very best to put my heart and soul into. If you like to see more, feel free to leave a follow for the next chapter. 
> 
> Any support I get is much appreciated. ^^


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